Every college basketball team has the goal of reaching March Madness, but some have expectations much higher than that, making for a pressure-packed month.

While there are several Final Four contenders, one has to remember only four teams can get in. Those that don’t advance are left unsatisfied, realizing they didn’t rise to their potential. That can make for some unfavorable conditions with fans and university officials, testing their patience in whether they have the right person or team to lead them to glory.

Whether its extended droughts or coaches feeling their seats getting warmer, here are the five teams that are facing the most pressure heading into the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

Arizona

It has been a record setting year for Arizona en route to the Big 12 regular season title. Tommy Lloyd has excelled with 141 wins in five seasons. But for how much of a regular season monster the Wildcats are, they disappear in the NCAA tournament.

Lloyd is still in search of his first Elite Eight appearance, as his teams have continuously fallen short in March, with a 6-4 record in the big dance. Three of those defeats came vs. seeds worse than his team’s. It almost feels like some sort of curse since Arizona is still searching for its first Final Four appearance since 2001 — just unable to replicate its talent when the lights get bright.

Of all the teams Lloyd has had so far, this is by far his deepest and most talented. It’s poised for a No. 1 seed and to be a national championship favorite. The expectation is this is the team that finally breaks through. If it doesn’t happen now, then when will it?

Purdue

The preseason No. 1 team in the country looked like it for the first half of the season, but the second half has Boilermaker fans believing another disappointing postseason is on the horizon.

Purdue is 6-7 in its last 13 games, not resembling a team that had all the ingredients for a championship roster. While the offense hasn’t been the problem, the defense hasn’t been able to stop any shooters. The Boilermakers were positioned to be a No. 2 seed just a few weeks ago but are falling toward a No. 4 spot, closer to facing those dangerous mid-major teams.

The March failures are well documented, and everything spells another one incoming. Even if it avoids a first-round upset, Purdue still faces an uphill battle to advancing. To go from starting the season as the favorite to win it all to not making it out of the first weekend would be another disastrous ending.

Kentucky

In case you haven’t heard, Big Blue Nation isn’t exactly happy with their second-year coach. It’s not hard to understand when you see how much money was poured into this team.

Mark Pope’s roster reportedly cost $22 million, and it resulted in a middling regular season that doesn’t scream ‘optimism’ for Kentucky. It had a bad start to the season and found a rhythm halfway through, but the sour thoughts returned with a 2-5 finish in the last seven games of the regular season. If a team costs that much, one expects it to be in the top portion of the sport — not trying to figure out if it’s going to wear its home or road uniforms in the first round.

The hot seat is going to be turned up a notch as Pope will have to somehow pull off an upset in the first weekend of the tournament or deal with the fact the season was a total bust. His standing will only get more uncomfortable if it doesn’t pan out, and the clock can start to tick on how much time he’ll have left in Lexington.

Kansas

The expectations on Kansas this season weren’t as high as previous years, but this is still Kansas: The Jayhawks should be contending, not faltering.

It has been a weird season surrounded by Darryn Peterson, but Kansas has done quite well en route to a third-place finish in the Big 12. Now it needs to carry the momentum into March and get the mojo it has been lacking recently. Ever since winning it all in 2022, Kansas hasn’t advanced to the Sweet 16, which was almost a given in every bracket.

Questions about Bill Self will only persist if the Jayhawks have another early exit. There’s plenty of speculation surrounding his future and whether Kansas should start trying to think of what to do when it’s time. Self will only leave on his terms, but there will hope he does it soon if it can’t recapture March magic.

Ohio State

While all the aforementioned teams are trying to win big, Ohio State is just trying to get in: Jake Diebler is still trying to get the Buckeyes in the NCAA tournament.

Ohio State had an up-and-down year, yet it looks like it will be enough to get into the bracket — barely. The Buckeyes are likely to end up a double-digit seed, and the first four is not entirely out of the conversation. While it counts toward breaking the four-year drought, that’s not exactly what was envisioned when the Buckeyes decided to stick with Diebler. They still hasn’t gotten to the Sweet 16 since 2013.

There haven’t been many reasons to follow basketball in Columbus, and just a mere tournament appearance could make it fade further away from the spotlight, with more questions on whether it’s going in the right direction.

Each NBA team has fewer than 20 games remaining on its 2025-26 regular season schedule, and playoff races are tightening.

It also means players jostling for positioning in the battle for Most Valuable Player are running out of time to make their cases. And, given the recent performance of the player atop this list, it may already be too late.

This last stretch of season also presents a prime chance for marquee matchups. Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets will face Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs (twice) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder once in their final five games.

This week, Thursday, March 12, OKC will host Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics. It should all make for compelling viewing down the stretch.

Here’s the latest iteration of the USA TODAY Sports NBA MVP rankings:

USA TODAY Sports NBA MVP rankings

5. Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics

It appears that the return of Jayson Tatum won’t negatively impact Brown’s argument for MVP, though it is still too early. The bigger issue is the ground needed to make up and the recent play of players atop this list. Either way, Brown’s career highs in points (28.3), rebounds (7.1) and assists (5.1) show the impact he has had this season.

Last week: fifth

4. Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons

They snapped their first four-game losing streak of the season, but a recent 10-point performance March 3 against the Cavaliers hurts his case, even though he did generate 14 assists. Cunningham continues to be one of the breakout stars of the season and Detroit’s offense runs through him. That, however, won’t be enough.

Last week: second

3. Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs

He has been posting monster games lately and the Spurs have lost just a single game since Feb. 1. Wembanyama is the catalyst for San Antonio’s surge, and he has been showing up in massive games. Just this week, he dropped 39 and 11 in a win over the Celtics, which came after a 29 and 8 (with 4 blocks) against the Rockets. His 38-point, 16-rebound, 5-block game against the Pistons, however, a 15-point San Antonio victory, might have been the most complete game of his career.

Last week: fourth

2. Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets

He has been on an absolute tear lately and leads the NBA with 24 triple-doubles. In fact, he’s still averaging one, putting up 28.9 points, an NBA-best 12.5 rebounds and an NBA-best 10.3 assists per game. In any other season, that would easily clear the production necessary to win him the award. But the Nuggets have sputtered recently, and he’s in a delicate spot with his games played; if he misses more than one game through Denver’s remaining 17, he’ll become ineligible for postseason awards.

Last week: third

1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

SGA, for all intents and purposes, all but ended the race with his 35-point, 15-assist, 9-rebound masterpiece Monday, March 9 against the Nuggets. In that game, Gilgeous-Alexander drained a game-winning 3 and provided yet another MVP moment, which is something voters value when making their determination. And, perhaps most impressively, Gilgeous-Alexander is doing this as the Thunder continue to face injury issues. As long as he maintains his 65-game eligibility, he should be on track to claim his second consecutive MVP.

Last week: first

• President Trump made at least 17 false or unfounded statements about college sports during a recent White House meeting.
• Trump incorrectly blamed a ‘radical-left judge from California’ for issues like player pay, when many changes resulted from settlements or state laws.
• The article refutes Trump’s claims about multi-million dollar quarterback deals, massive athletic department losses, and the widespread cancellation of women’s sports.

Less than a week since President Donald Trump held a big meeting about how to fix college sports, those who watched it and took part in it are still trying to process it.

What did Trump mean exactly? And what will he try to do about it next?

It didn’t help that Trump made at least 17 false, mistaken or unfounded statements about college sports during the meeting at the White House March 6, as counted by USA TODAY Sports. Such untrue statements tend to make a complicated situation worse. So here’s a guide to each of them for the sake of clarity:

1. Trump was seriously wrong about the judge

He blamed a “radical-left judge from California” for the problems in college sports, which include huge new expenses from direct payments to players and unlimited annual player transfers. Trump said this judge “made a horrible, incredible ruling” and turned it all “upside-down,” leading to where we are now.

This is not correct. He didn’t name her, but federal Judge Claudia Wilken has presided over big antitrust cases against the NCAA in California, including the House vs. NCAA settlement that led colleges to share up to $20.5 million this year with players — a huge new expense that’s created big budget problems. That was part of a voluntary agreement between the two sides, including the NCAA. It was not a ruling handed down by Wilken.

Wilken also presided over Alston vs. the NCAA and did rule the NCAA violated antitrust law in that case. The NCAA appealed that all the way to the Supreme Court, which upheld Wilken’s ruling by a 9-0 vote in 2021. But this is often mistaken as the case that allowed players to earn money for their names, images and likenesses (NIL) for the first time in 2021. It did not do that. The Supreme Court never mentioned NIL in its decision.

The Alston case instead only removed NCAA limits to compensation or benefits for players that were related to education. ‘The rest of the NCAA’s compensation rules are not at issue here and therefore remain on the books,’ Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote.

Other forces pressured the NCAA into finally allowing players to get NIL compensation in 2021, especially states that previously passed laws to approve it, including California (2019), Florida (2020) and Alabama (April 2020).

2. The judge wasn’t ‘radical-left,’ either

Wilken was appointed to the federal bench in 1993 by President Clinton, a Democrat. Her ruling in the Alston case was not exactly “radical” by any traditional sense. It removed restraints that were hindering free trade and competition in a capitalist system. She could have gone further in her ruling to disrupt the NCAA system but made a relatively narrow or conservative ruling against the NCAA instead. Then her ruling was upheld unanimously by a Supreme Court in which six of the nine justices were appointed by Republican presidents.

3. Trump made it sound like there was no appeal

Trump said this legal outcome “should have been appealed” and that “nobody can find out if it was appealed or not.” He was later corrected at the meeting to an extent regarding the Alston case. But just to be clear:

The House case ended in settlement between the two sides. If either side objected to the proposed terms, they could have kept fighting their case and appealed as desired.

4. There’s no $14 million quarterback

Trump said that “17-year-old quarterbacks” are being signed by colleges for $12 million to $14 million.

There’s no evidence of that. The top estimated NIL valuation for a player is $5.4 million for 21-year-old Texas quarterback Arch Manning, according to On3.

5. There’s no ‘seven-year freshman’

“We have a seven-year freshman… We’re seeing things we’ve never seen before,” Trump said.

Maybe he was confusing this with quarterback TJ Finley, who recently joined his seventh college team in seven years at Incarnate Word. He’s a graduate student who got extra years because of the pandemic in 2020 and a medical redshirt year.

6. There is a salary cap in college sports

Trump said if there were no salary cap in the NFL, “you’d see staggering losses.”

“We have no salary cap in colleges,” Trump said.

This is mixed up. The NCAA still forbids colleges from paying players directly for their play, but the House settlement allowed each school to give up to $20.5 million in NIL payments and other benefits to players this year. Those are both hard salary caps. It is true college players can get paid an unlimited amount for their NIL by third parties, just like Trump could for selling clothes and products with his name on it, as he does at his online store.

7. Penn State didn’t ‘lose’ $535 million

Trump said Penn State athletics lost $535 million last year.

Not true. The school reported it had that much debt in fiscal 2025, mostly because of renovations to its football stadium. That’s not lost money. It’s debt that was taken on by the school for something it wanted in return.

8. Florida State didn’t lose $440 million

Trump said that, too. It’s not correct. Same reason as Penn State. It’s debt the school took out largely to pay for facility upgrades. Nobody forced either school to do this. If these schools didn’t want upgraded stadiums, they wouldn’t have such high debt.

9. Rutgers didn’t exactly lose $95 million.

Trump said it was “just announced that Rutgers lost $95 million.” This is closer to the mark than what he said about Penn State and Florida State. Rutgers did report a $78 million budget deficit for fiscal 2025. It would have been worse if Rutgers didn’t provide athletics with $31 million in fees and support.

10. Women’s sports are not being canceled everywhere

“Women’s sports are being canceled all over the country,” he said. He also said women’s sports “are being cut in every college.”

Some women’s teams have been cancelled in recent years for different reasons. Iowa State recently canceled its gymnastics program but didn’t say it was financially motivated. Texas-El Paso did cut women’s tennis last year citing financial reasons.

But in the Southeastern Conference, commissioner Greg Sankey recently noted his league added a women’s team — volleyball at Vanderbilt.

11. Other nations do invest in Olympic athletes and champions

“No other nation in the world has built a system that develops champions in classrooms and on the field, producing Olympic heroes, professional legends and leaders of tomorrow all at once,” Trump said.

He was referring to the old American college sports system that compensated athletes with scholarships and not much more than that. He’d like that old way to come back somehow.

But it’s not true that the U.S. is the only country with a system to develop and educate its athletes. Authoritarian countries China and Russia take it to a different level, for example.

12. Jim Jordan’s wrestling record was 156-28-1

Trump said Rep. Jim Jordan, his Republican political supporter, was “virtually undefeated in college wrestling” except for maybe “one bad night.”

OK, Trump was just trying to flatter Jordan, who acknowledged he lost more than once. For the record, he was 156-28-1 at Wisconsin in the 1980s, according to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

13. These colleges are not ‘going to go out of business’

Trump said many colleges would go out of business or bankrupt because of the cost of college sports now. He again blamed the judge for doing something to “destroy” colleges.

But spending big money on athletics is discretionary for those universities that want to allocate funds for it or even bail their athletic departments out of deficits. If sports gets too expensive and risks the educational mission, they can choose to cut back or find ways to raise more money.

The irony is the Trump Administration has worked to defund many of these same universities, causing them hardship in other areas.

14. Everybody was not happy with old system

Trump wants to return to the old system before NIL and revenue-sharing with players.

“Everybody was happy,” he said. “And now you’ve got yourself a mess.”

The actual reason for the “mess” is everyone was not happy. That is why athletes sued the NCAA for change and won. No current athletes attended the meeting with Trump.

15. Women are not being thrown out of college sports

“You have a problem where women are being thrown out of sports like at levels never seen before,” Trump said.

To the contrary, the NCAA released data this month that said women’s participation in college sports reached a record high with 242,341 women athletes in 2024-25, the most recent year available.

16. The Supreme Court wasn’t responsible for this

By the end of the meeting, Trump was informed the Supreme Court upheld Wilken ruling unanimously in the Alston case.

“The Supreme Court ought to be ashamed of itself for a lot of reasons,” Trump said.

The problems in college sports aren’t one of them. Their decision in the Alston case is not responsible for the start of NIL, or revenue-sharing with players, or unlimited annual player transfers, or challenges to NCAA eligibility rules in state courts.

17. A ‘bad court system’ isn’t responsible, either.

“A bad court system has destroyed college sports and colleges in this country and a lot of lives,” Trump said.

The courts have merely acted as referees in the civil litigation that has rocked the NCAA. But there are other forces that led these cases to court in the first place.

As college coaches and athletic departments got richer with rising new media revenue, antitrust attorneys made the case for why it wasn’t fair for the NCAA to restrict the earnings of college athletes at the same time.  NCAA rules weren’t legally sound enough to survive this challenge.

In the meantime, college sports leaders also didn’t have to fight change for so long and end up getting forced into something they don’t like. They led college sports to where it is, not some ‘radical’ judge from California.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

Let me take you back a quarter century or so, when Wally Szczerbiak was the baddest man in the NCAA Tournament. 

When Miami (Ohio) in 1999 became one of the original underdogs of what has annually become the greatest weekend in sports.

When there was controversy then, too, about MAC regular-season champion Miami receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after losing in the MAC tournament championship.

The same potential argument unfolding with this year’s Miami team — with one caveat. 

This team is 31-0.   

The RedHawks of yesteryear hopped on Szczerbiak’s back and beat No. 7 seed Washington and No. 2 seed Utah in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, before eventually losing a week later in the Sweet 16.

But here’s the key, and the connection to 2026: that Miami team beat No.7-ranked (and eventual No. 4 seed) Tennessee in the regular season. Also won at Notre Dame.

This Miami team has beaten no one of significance, leaving the tournament selection committee with a difficult question to answer should Miami lose in the MAC tournament. 

Is Miami one of the 68 best teams in college basketball?

While you stare at Miami’s spotless record, and the rare air it produces, let me offer a few more numbers to digest. 

• Miami’s nonconference schedule rank by the KenPom rating service is 361. And I don’t want to burst any bubbles here, but there are 365 Division I teams. 
• Miami played 15 Quad 4 games, the lowest level of the quad games formula. The RedHawks didn’t play a single Quad 1 game.
• Miami played — I swear I’m not making this up — three teams called Trinity Christian, Indiana East and Milligan. No to be confused with, you know, mulligan.

All three are NAIA schools, and because no one wanted to play Miami and its upperclass-laden team — that’s the excuse, for what it’s worth — the RedHawks decided to troll the Appalachian Athletic Conference for leftovers.

Let’s be honest, the Top 25 high school teams would roll the Appalachian Athletic Conference. 

Miami, which plays UMass on Thursday morning in the MAC quarterfinals, has won seven one-possession conference games. The MAC, according to the NET rating, is the 17th-ranked Division I conference.

Once you get past the first seven conferences, you’ve reached the one-bid leagues. The MAC currently is looking up at the Big Sky, Big West and Coastal Athletic, to name a few. 

So this comes down to perfection vs. the path to perfection. 

How many of the 365 Division I teams could pull off the same 31 straight wins if they played Miami’s schedule? More than you think. Don’t get pulled into the argument that an unbeaten season has to mean something. 

It doesn’t. 

Especially if it was built by feasting on the worst of the worst of college basketball. Miami’s overall schedule rank according to KenPom is 231.

Two hundred thirty one. 

This isn’t necessarily an argument for Auburn or Indiana or Stanford or Cincinnati or any other Power conference team getting hosed. It’s more about the New Mexico, San Diego State and Santa Claras of the world teetering on the edge of the bubble.

They’re potentially out if they don’t win their conference tournaments, and Miami is in because it was lallygagging through a ridiculously soft schedule designed for success. But because the RedHawks have managed to keep the core of a solid team on campus, a team full of game experience, we should genuflect and never question a team with an unbeaten record. 

Why, you ask? Well, do you know how hard it is to go unbeaten?

Not that difficult when you’re playing the 231st-ranked schedule. 

Maxx Crosby has broken his silence after a little more than 24 hours of pandemonium.

The Las Vegas Raiders had agreed over the weekend to trade Crosby to the Baltimore Ravens for two first-round picks, but the Ravens ‘backed out’ of the trade, reportedly due to concerns the Ravens had with Crosby’s physical.

Baltimore subsequently struck a deal with free agent Trey Hendrickson and now Crosby is back with the Silver and Black, the team the 28-year-old started his career with in 2019 out of Eastern Michigan as a fourth round pick.

The five-time Pro Bowler took to X, formerly Twitter, to finally directly speak out following the whirlwind news cycle.

‘Everything Happens For A Reason. Believe Nothing You Hear & Half Of What You See. Im A Raider. I’m Back. Run That (Expletive),’ the Raiders edge rusher said in a X post, that included a gif of The Undertaker busting out of a flaming coffin.

Maxx Crosby contract

In 2026, Crosby will earn a base salary of $30 million, while carrying a cap hit of nearly $35.8 million.

Maxx Crosby stats

In seven seasons in Oakland and Las Vegas, Crosby had racked up 439 total tackles, 69.5 sacks, 11 forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, 29 pass deflections and an interception.

The Golden State Warriors were holding on to the eighth seed in the NBA Western Conference standings, but then guard Stephen Curry went down with a right knee injury that has kept him out 15 games and counting.

The Warriors have lost 10 of those 15 games, including a 130-124 overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls on March 10, to fall to the ninth spot in the Western Conference with a 32-33 record, resting 1 game behind the Los Angeles Clippers (33-32), who sit at the No. 8 spot.

Golden State has -175 odds of missing the 2026 NBA playoffs, as of March 11, according to BetMGM. The betting site has the Warriors at +140 to make the playoffs.

With 17 games remaining in the regular season, the Warriors will be without Curry at least an additional five games, the team announced Wednesday, due to patella-femoral pain syndrome and bone bruising in his right knee.

Curry was re-evaluated and seems to be making good progress.

‘He has been working out individually on the court in recent days and those workouts, based on his continued progress, will continue to intensify,’ the team said in a statement.

Curry is expected to be re-evaluated in 10 days. He last played Jan. 30 against the Detroit Pistons. Curry leads the team with 27.2 points per game.

Warriors postseason hopes

The Warriors still have a 27.4% chance to make the playoffs, according to ESPN’s 2025-26 Playoffs NBA Power Index.

The Warriors face the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, March 13. Minnesota is currently 40-26, the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference.

The Warriors then go on a six-game road trip to take on the New York Knicks, Washington Wizards, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, Atlanta Hawks and Dallas Mavericks. The Knicks, Celtics and Pistons are solid playoff-contending teams, holding the top three seeds in the East. The Hawks are currently at the No. 9-spot with a 34-31 record.

Golden State returns home for a pair of games against the Brooklyn Nets on March 25 and Wizards on March 27. Curry could theoretically return against the Nets following his re-evaluation. Neither of those East Coast teams are in the playoff hunt.

In the final month of the season, the Warriors will play five teams contending for the postseason. They start a five-game homestand against the San Antonio Spurs on April 1, then the next day, they host the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Houston Rockets come to town on April 5, while the Sacramento Kings visit the Bay Area on April 7. The Warriors’ final regular-season meeting with the Lakers is on April 9. Golden State finishes the regular season on the road against Sacramento on April 10 and the Clippers on April 12.

The Warriors have to remain between the No. 7 and No. 10 seeds to be eligible for the 2026 NBA Play-In Tournament, which will take place from April 14 to 17.

OK, we can all breathe a little easier now.

After a stunning defeat at the hands of Italy on Tuesday, the United States was in jeopardy of being eliminated ahead of the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals. Coming into the tournament, the USA was heavy favorites, meaning a failure of this magnitude would be downright embarrassing.

The U.S. managed to avoid such a tragedy, though, thanks to the very team that beat it yesterday: Italy.

But pool play was the easy part. Now comes the contests where the U.S. proves whether or not the hype surrounding its team entering the tournament was worth it. The U.S. is looking for its second World Baseball Classic title.

Here’s when the United States plays next.

When does the U.S. play next?

Who will the U.S. play?

The United States will play Pool A winner Canada in the quarterfinals. Canada earned the Pool A title after its 7-2 win over Cuba on Wednesday, vaulting it over Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico, meanwhile, will face Group B winner Italy on Saturday after Italy defeated Mexico.

How to watch the U.S. quarterfinal game?

The USA-Canada WBC quarterfinal game will be aired nationally on Fox.

Anyone interested in streaming the game can do so through services like Fubo or YouTube TV.

Stream the 2026 World Baseball Classic with Fubo

Clark was electric in her debut, tallying a double-double with 17 points and 12 assists in 19 minutes of action. Her first points in eight months came with 1 minute, 22 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The Indiana Fever guard sank a triple to get on the board.

“Different than a WNBA game, but for myself, it’s a nice way to ease back into it, and I felt like I was effective when I was out there,’ Clark said. ‘But more than anything, just makes me happy that I’m super sweaty right now and I got to play.”

Newcomers Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese, Rae Burrell, Monique Billings and Kiki Iriafen also had solid debuts in their first action as members of the Team USA senior Team. Bueckers finished with nine points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal in 14 minutes of action. Reese added six points, eight rebounds and an assist during 17 minutes of play.

Clark & Co. were part of a much larger dominant showing from the U.S., which included four players in double figures. Rhyne Howard led the way with a staggering six triples on Wednesday, finishing with 21 points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal. The U.S. completed its matchup against Senegal, shooting 50% from the field and 54% from deep.

‘The ball is always going to find the right shot,’ Howard said. ‘Us being able to come out and, not having that much time with each other, and be able to move it around, it was good.

‘I hit shots, they kept finding me, shooters shot.

Caitlin Clark final stats

Clark had a double-double is her first game since July 15. She played 19 minutes. Not too shabby for someone trying to shake the rust off.

Caitlin Clark notches a double-double against Senegal

Of course, Caitlin Clark has a double-double against Senegal. Of course, she does. At the 3:58 mark of the fourth quarter, Clark splashed a triple to get up to 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Rae Burrell makes Team USA women’s basketball debut

Burell was the last newcomer of Team USA to take the court against Senegal, but she came in and immediately made an impact. Burrell checked in at the start of the fourth quarter, and at the 8:38 mark, she found Kiki Iriafen for an easy assist and score right under the basket. At the 5:16 mark, she scored her first points.

Third quarter: USA 82, Senegal 36

The U.S. has a comfortable 46-point lead at the end of three quarters as it shoots over 60% from the field. Every player who has played has scored. Rhyne Howard leads the field with 18 points, including five 3-pointers, and Kahleah Copper and Monique Billings added 10 points. Caitlin Clark has 12 assists to go along with her eight points.

Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese team up for quick points

Caitlin Clark is making light work of Senegal as she found Angel Reese for an easy two points at the 3:32 mark of the third quarter. The assist was Clark’s ninth of the day.

Senegal coach ejected from the match versus Team USA

Senegal coach Cheikh Sarr was not very happy over what he felt was a non-call on USA’s Rhyne Howard after she made contact with Victorine Thiaw during a steal. At the 7:13 mark of the third, Sarr seemingly said something animated to nearby officials, warranting back-to-back technical fouls on the coach and an ejection.

Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese and more make Team USA debuts

On Wednesday, newcomers Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, Monique Billings and Kiki Iriafen had all logged minutes by halftime. Rae Burrell, who is also making her debut, was still awaiting action at the break.

Here’s how the newbies of Team USA fared in early action against Senegal:

• Caitlin Clark (10:23) – 8 points, 8 assists
• Monique Billings (10:23) – 6 points, 2 rebounds
• Kiki Iriafen (10:23) – 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal
• Angel Reese (9:37) – 2 points, 4 rebounds
• Pauge Bucekers (5:04) – 2 points, 2 rebounds

Halftime: USA 59, Senegal 19

The U.S. women are overwhelming Senegal in all aspects and hold a commanding 59-19 lead at the half. Clark came off the bench to record 8 points and 8 assists before the break, while Rhyne Howard leads all scorers with 15 points. With USA seemingly able to dictate whatever it wants, Clark efficiently facilitated, drawing praise from the commentators for her connection with Howard.

First quarter: USA 28, Senegal 11

After one quarter of play, it’s the USA out in front as the team made a huge push with contributions from Kahleah Copper, Chelsea Gray, Caitlin Clark and Jackie Young.

Caitlin Clark’s debut shot for Team USA is a 3-pointer

At the 1:22 mark of the first quarter, Caitlin Clark drained her first points in a Team USA uniform. Unsurprisingly, it was a 3-pointer, which bounced on the rim and in. It was Clark’s first points since July of last year.

Caitlin Clark checks in for Team USA

At the 5:16 mark of the first quarter, Caitlin Clark made her Team USA Basketball debut. Clark checked in with Kelsey Plum, Rhyne Howard, Kiki Iriafen, and Monique Billings. She immediately passed the ball to Billings for an assist and score, adding to the U.S.’ lead.

Team USA got out to an 11-1 run against Senegal

The U.S. women’s basketball team is off to a hot start on Tuesday. At the 5:27 mark of the first quarter, it’s 13-1, Team USA, over Senegal. Kahleah Copper leads all scorers with six points.

Caitlin Clark is coming off the bench for Team USA

As expected, Caitlin Clark did not start in her Team USA debut.

Here’s who Team USA started for its matchup against Senegal:

• 7 Kahleah Copper | G 6-0
• 8 Cheslea Gray | G 5-10
• 6 Dearica Hamby | F 6-0
• 9 Angel Reese | F 6-2
• 13 Jackie Young |G 6-0

It’s almost time for Caitlin Clark to make her Team USA debut

Here’s Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark flashing a peace sign as she warms up for Wednesday’s matchup against Senegal.

Team USA is ready to play

Team USA Women’s basketball has arrived to play its matchup against Senegal at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico Jose Miguel Agrelot.

How much will Caitlin Clark play for Team USA?

After not playing basketball for eight months, how much will Caitlin Clark play with Team USA?

Realistically, fans shouldn’t expect Clark to play big minutes as part of Team USA’s FIBA World Cup Qualifying roster. USA Basketball coach Kara Lawson and her staff will figure out which lineups work best. Additionally, two other point guards, veteran Chelsea Gray and fellow newcomer Paige Bueckers, are on the roster and will also see minutes.

“This is a different stage,” Clark said. “You’re not going to come out here and be the star player. That’s not how it’s going to be for USA Basketball. You’re going to find a way to help the team win. You’re going to find a way to compete to the best of your ability.”

How to watch Team USA: Schedule

All times Eastern

Team USA Women’s World Cup Qualifying 2026 – Team Roster

Below are the players selected to represent the U.S. at the upcoming FIBA Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

• Monique Billings
• Paige Bueckers
• Rae Burrell
• Caitlin Clark
• Kahleah Copper
• Chelsea Gray
• Dearica Hamby
• Rhyne Howard
• Kiki Iriafen
• Kelsey Plum
• Angel Reese
• Jackie Young

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What time is Team USA women’s basketball vs Senegal?

The Team USA women’s basketball game is at 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 11, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Team USA women’s basketball vs Senegal: TV/streaming

• Date: Wednesday, March 11
• Time: 5 p.m. ET (2 p.m. PT)
• TV: TNT/truTV
• Stream: Sling TV

HOUSTON — The cases of wine hadn’t arrived yet Wednesday night, but Vinnie Pasquantino, Aaron Nola and their Team Italy teammates certainly expect their shipment soon from Team USA, with perhaps a few boxes of pizza from Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, Bobby Witt Jr. and the boys.

Pasquantino set a World Baseball Classic record by hitting three homers and Nola suffocated Mexico’s lineup, the duo leading Italy to a 9-1 win over Mexico, securing a quarterfinal berth for Italy while permitting the USA to stay alive and slide into the quarterfinals as the No. 2 seed.

The USA will play Canada, the top seed from Pool A, on Friday night, while Italy, the top seed from Pool B, will host Puerto Rico on Saturday night with both games at Daikin Park in Houston. The winners of the two games will advance to the semifinals in Miami.

While Italy’s attack silenced the heavily pro-Mexico crowd of 39,894 at Daikin Park, the loudest cheers erupted from Team USA’s hotel.

The Americans knew that an Italy victory would automatically assure a quarterfinal berth since they were 3-1 in pool play, with their lone loss coming to Italy (4-0). Yet, the suspense ended early. They basically knew they were in by the fifth inning, once Italy scored their fifth run, giving them a tiebreaker advantage in runs allowed, even if Italy lost.

Just like that, it allowed Team USA manager Mark DeRosa to exhale after he was ridiculed from coast-to-coast, mistakenly believing that the USA had clinched a quarterfinal berth Monday after beating Mexico, 5-3. He erroneously said on MLB Network that the Americans had punched their ticket to the quarterfinals Tuesday night before their game against Italy. He realized his mistake when he arrived at the ballpark, but insisted it didn’t affect his lineup or in-game strategy.

“I just misspoke,’’ DeRosa said repeatedly after the loss to Italy.

No matter, he was still torched, and certainly will be the center of attention Thursday during the workouts for the four quarterfinal teams.

While these quarterfinals in Houston have featured plenty of drama off the field, from two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal’s decision to return to the Detroit Tigers to USA catcher Cal Raleigh’s refusal to shake Mexico outfielder Randy Arozarena’s hand at home plate, lost in the shuffle has been Italy’s brilliant performance.

No one gave the Italians a chance in the pool, which they had never won. It was always USA and Mexico. When USA beat Mexico, the Americans chilled late in the clubhouse for a few hours, thinking Italy would be a push-over the next day, only to lose 8-6. When Mexico played Italy on Wednesday, the biggest question wasn’t whether the Mexicans would win, but would they hold the scoring down to prevent the USA from getting into the quarterfinals in a three-way tie.

Instead, Italy engineered the two greatest victories in Italian baseball history with back-to-back upsets against the two powers.

“This means the world for Italian baseball,’’ said Marco Mazzieri, Italian federation president.

‘The phones are just blowing up,’ he added.

They are now the talk of Italy, with highlights showing on national TV, the prime minister singing their praises, and baseball now on the country’s landscape as an authentic sport.

“Pretty awesome,’’ said Italy second baseman Jon Berti, who’s hit .417 this tournament, and homered Wednesday. “We’re here to win, and we’re here working our butts off to put Italian baseball on the map. Pretty cool to see the prime minister gave us a little bit of a shout-out this morning. …

“I wish my grandfather was still around. He would be loving this. That’s one of the big reasons I wanted to play.’’

It was only fitting that Italy’s biggest hero was Pasquantino, their captain and ringleader of everything from espresso shots to jello shot to wine tastings. Pasquantino, Witt’s teammate with the Kanas City Royals, had been AWOL in Italy’s first three games. He had played fabulous defense, but didn’t have a lone hit, going 0-for-12.

That all changed with one historic evening with a solo homer in the second inning, the sixth inning and the eighth inning.

Yes, it was not only the first three-homer game in WBC history, but perhaps the first three-espresso night in a baseball dugout, too.

“It’s unbelievable how close this group has gotten in such a quick timeframe,’’ Berti said. “We’re all trying to enjoy it as best as we can because we know it won’t last much longer, no matter what. It’s a short tournament, unfortunately. We wish we could play all together for a long time.

“But Vinnie gets a huge credit for that. He set the tone early for us. He’s an awesome leader, very fun to be around and kind of drew everybody in and together.’’

Even when Pasquantino was struggling offensively, his teammates swore you couldn’t tell whether he went 4-for-4 or 0-for-4, showing all of the qualities you’d ever want in a clubhouse leader.

“I would say so,’’ Berti said. “It’s very infectious. We have a lot of younger guys on the team as well with a lot of talent, and it’s kind of allowed them to kind of open up and be themselves a little bit, which might be a little different than some big-league clubhouses, where you need to earn a lot of respect.

“But in this short of a period, it’s good to get everyone on board right away. And he’s done a great job of that, and the young guys have responded, which has been awesome to see.’’

Then, there was Nola, the veteran starter on the Phillies’ staff, and teammates with Schwarber and Harper. He knew if Italy simply won, there would be no need for any tiebreakers or calculators. So he went out and absolutely shoved in his WBC debut, giving up just four hits in five shutout innings with five strikeouts. When he left the game, Italy had a 5-0 lead and cruised the rest of the way.

Team Italy’s starting rotation was relentless in its four games in pool play. It produced a 1.00 ERA, yielding 10 hits and two runs in 18 innings with 20 strikeouts, and a .175 batting average.

Italy’s renaissance has reached such a crescendo that the entire day was dedicated to Italian baseball, with news even spreading in the parliament.

“That means we are making noise,’’ Italy manager Francisco Cervelli said, “and noise in a positive way. If we win this tournament, it will help the national (soccer) team. And I say the national team is a religion. But the religion, probably before the 1900s, was not a religion.

“So probably this is the start of a new religion, baseball in Italy. I don’t know how we can do it, but I think we make it happen. It’s a good start. And I’m glad in Italy a lot of people are talking about baseball.’’

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The 2026 Ivy League women’s basketball tournament begins Friday.

Four teams will vie for the conference title beginning Friday, March 13 at Newman Arena in Ithaca, New York, on the Cornell University campus.

Princeton, which has gotten the Ivy League’s automatic bid in five of the past eight seasons, is the No. 1 seed. The Tigers have a 24-3 overall record; they’re 12-2 in the conference. They are joined in the tournament by Columbia, Harvard and Brown.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Ivy League tournament:

When is the Ivy League tournament scheduled?

The 2026 Ivy League women’s basketball tournament begins Friday, March 13 and runs through Saturday, March 14, at Newman Arena in Ithaca, New York, on the Cornell University campus. Play begins at 4:30 p.m. ET Friday for the semifinals.

The Ivy League championship game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 14.

How to watch women’s Ivy League tournament

The Ivy League semifinals can be streamed on ESPN+. The championship will be broadcast on ESPNU.

2026 Ivy League women’s basketball tournament bracket

Ivy League tournament schedule, bracket, scores

The 2026 Ivy League women’s basketball tournament unfolds over two days during March, with all games played at Newman Arena in Ithaca, New York, on the Cornell University campus.

Friday, March 13

Semifinals

No. 1 Princeton vs. No. 4 Brown, 4:30 p.m. ET (ESPN+)No. 2 Columbia vs. No. 3 Harvard, 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN+)

Saturday, March 14

Championship

Semifinal winners, 5:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU